Sol Bamba the problem?

Thanks for the comments chaps - it appears opinion is divided. There is definitely something wrong with the team as a whole and whilst 4 points from the last 2 games is what we need on average, it could have quite easily been 0 points from the last two games had Schmeichel not performed heroics. I know it's early days and I'm not calling for Sven to go, but there doesn't seem much improvement in performances from day 1. If we are all honest our 'team of superstars' were outplayed yesterday.

I have actually been thinking this as he has played all games this season and we have been leaking the goals. I would like to see the SSL and Mills combo for a game.The defence, name for name, is clearly up there with one of, if not the best, in the division. So communication must be the issue.

I was thinking about this very point at the game yesterday, particularly because of Merseyside fox's past comments. I like to think therefore that I was watching with an open mind.

The conclusion I came to on the evidence of the Barnsley match is that this is untrue. Bamba had a good game yesterday, making some vital challenges and interceptions while any Barnsley attacker that went near him generally lost the ball.

With Mills, on the other hand, there were big problems. His passing, even short passing, was awful. It got to the point where Barnsley's tactics were to close us down until the ball reached Mills, then give him no easy option but to hoof it. He rarely let them down and they were usually able to mop things up easily as a result. However, of far greater concern was his work in the air. The reason that no Barnsley attacker stood next to Bamba was because they knew it was futile. Meanwhile they won almost everything against Mills. Even if Mills is unsure about what Bamba will do, he must know that Bamba has the pace to cover and that he should therefore be taking the step forward to win his headers. Apart from getting a few blocks in during the second half, Mills had a poor game and was deliberately targeted by the Barnsley attack.

He did have one excuse - Pantsil was worse and he was constantly having to cover for the right back's mistakes. However, I didn't see how Bamba could be blamed for any of this. If Mills's game was full of confusion, miscommunications and hesitations then I think there would be a case to answer, but it wasn't. He simply wasn't strong enough and wasn't skilful enough.

To suggest that Bamba take the blame for all this is harsh in the extreme.

Dungeon , well articulated again and makes me think twice to my 100% agree comment.

Is the answer to drop mills for a while ? Or just hope he can work through it and improve.

I don't know what to do about Mills - even if he's... erm... "agricultural" in possession, there is no excuse for someone of his supposed size and presence being dominated in the air at the back; other teams and strikers know this and are using it against him. That cannot possibly be Bamba's fault.

As regards dropping him, I just don't know. St. Ledger would probably fancy getting a chance if the centre of defence is underperforming so maybe we should. However, for the next match I would keep Mills there and drop Pantsil - he was even worse and his errors kept on dragging Mills out of position, which didn't help the matter.

I was about to post until i saw foxestom08 had allready posted exactly what i thought coming away from saturdays game. Pantsil was a massive liability. His marking of barnsleys leftwinger, his closing down, his attacking runs were all poor. He basically left a big hole a RB when we were getting countered which had to be covered by mills, pulling him out of position. I'd happily admit we were second best to an average Barnsley side. They were far hungier for the win and it just seemed in the first half as though we'd come to play for a draw, playing a dull 4-5-1/4-3-3 with no creativity or movement to open up gaps or create space. The only decent attacks i can remember in the 1st half came about because bamba and mills ran the ball into midfield because they'd quiet obviously had enough of the lacklustre play in front of them

"I was about to post until i saw foxestom08 had allready posted exactly what i thought coming away from saturdays game" *so i'll add to those thoughts

Anyone who saw SSL and Mills against Bury will have seen how much of liability they were together BECAUSE SSL was carrying Mills in the same way Bamba has. I'm afraid Bamba isn't the consistent weakness, Mills is. He's played (nearly) every game and we've kept one clean sheet. He needs a few weeks out of the squad to clear his head because at the moment he is a disaster, and his confidence will only get worse.

I've seen all our games so far and bamba has been our most solid defender imo. Mills seems to be lost at times but has shown some quality that I can put it down to bad form. No doubt the guy can't pass but one of the problems on sat was the midfield. No real shape and no movement into space. Pantsil was very poor. Looks very easy to beat and out of position, not what I expected from a good player. there seemed to be a lack of purpose and for gods sake, can someone tell them to start closing players down and stop backing off half a mile! I think we need to increase our game tempo as well which is a problem we had last season as well.

I don't think anyone will argue that Bamba has been the best individual defender, but can he play his role in a defensive unit? That to me is where the problem lies - we are not working as defensive team and relying on individual abilities.